Pennsylvania Bar Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
232303925
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Harrisburg, PA, USA
Phone
7172386715
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Legal Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$759,445
Expenses
$596,264
Assets
$3,057,494
Liabilities
$1,214,785

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

23 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MICHAEL B JONES (PRESIDENT)
  • LARRY E COPLOFF (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • JEFFERY M BOWER (IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT)
  • MATTHEW M HOLLIDAY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • MATTHEW M HOLLIDAY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $248,416 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The mission of the Pennsylvania bar foundation is to support programsthat increase the public's understanding of the law and promote equalaccess to justice. The foundation accomplishes its mission by making grants; administering a loan repayment assistance program for civil legal aid attorneys who help the poor for free; seeking financial support from individuals and organizations both within and outside of the legal community; and encouraging bar members to donate their time, talent and expertise in service to the public.

What it reported doing in 2025

Civics and law related education program - law related education programs seek to help integrate civics into the classroom curriculum of all grade levels and subject areas. Two of the major programs designed to do this are the celebrate the constitution program and the law day program.the celebrate the constitution program is designed to teach students about the u. S. Constitution. The award-winning celebrate the constitution brings together k-12 students, lawyers and judges for mock constitution signing programs across Pennsylvania. The annual program kicks-off in september during the national constitution week celebration and continues throughout the fall. All participating schools and county bar associations receive constitution-related materials for the signing programs. The law day program allows Pennsylvania lawyers and judges to visit k-12 classrooms throughout the month of may to teach students about the law. Supporting materials, such as law-related lesson plans and souvenirs with lots of kid appeal, are distributed to lawyers, judges and schools across the commonwealth making the day not only instructive but also memorable and fun. Foundation funding supports the purchase of pocket u.s. Constitution booklets each year.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 61% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 99% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and some filed totals do not add up.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 89
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 62
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 73.5%; rating input score 74
  • Program expense ratio: 86%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 96.4%; rating input score 96; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 21.5%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.13; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.4; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 41.7%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.4% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 73.5% of revenue deployed · 86% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 22 of 22 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $513K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $248K · 23 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 27 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2012 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: CEO compensation review process not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 3/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 15/100.